Not Just Subprime Borrowers Are Defaulting Now

There's much buzz tonight in reaction to a conference call today held by executives of Countrywide, the nation's largest mortgage lender.

The big news from CEO Angelo R. Mozilo:

...delinquencies and defaults continued to rise across all mortgage product categories..

It will be interesting in coming days to see how this news impacts New Jersey. New Jersey has a relatively low level of subprime lending, but we rank very highly in the percentage of income spent on housing costs.

Not pictured in that table: Nearly a quarter of homeowners in New Jersey spend 40 percent of their income on housing costs -- a precarious position indeed.